(TAN): UNWTO has referred to the re-opening of China as “the final piece in tourism’s recovery” from the biggest crisis in the sector’s history.
Leading a high-level delegation to the city of Hangzhou to join in the official re-opening, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili welcomed the lifting of travel restrictions as a major boost to economic growth and social opportunity both in Asia and the Pacific and globally. According to UNWTO data, the pandemic cost destinations worldwide a combined USD 270 billion in Chinese outbound tourist spending in 2020 and 2021 alone.
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The re-opening of borders therefore represents “the moment the world has been waiting for,” said the UNWTO secretary-general, who is the first UN Head of Agency to visit China since restrictions were lifted.
China’s Minister of Culture and Tourism Hu Heping welcomed UNWTO’s support throughout the pandemic and for joining the official re-opening celebrations. In a bilateral meeting, Hu Heping and Pololikashvili agreed to further deepen their collaboration around positioning tourism on the agenda for international development cooperation and in the key areas of tourism education and tourism for rural development.
